Russia doesn’t have much leverage amid calls for tougher international sanctions following the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine, but it does have the space rocket engines the Pentagon still loves, and some U.S. politicians love to hate.

The prospect of the U.S. running out of RD-180 engines, used to launch its most sensitive military and intelligence satellites, faded last month after weeks of hand-wringing in the corridors of Congress and the Pentagon. The problem? A senior Russian politician threatened to pull the plug on shipments of the engines in retaliation for the first round of Ukraine-related sanctions.

The RD-180 rocket engine, which has become a focal point of U.S.-Russia trade tensions.

ITAR-TASS/Corbis

The threat didn’t materialize, and the joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. that uses the engines last month assured that a new batch would arrive in August, topping up an existing supply that was deemed sufficient for another two-and-a-half years of satellite launches.

The joint venture, United Launch Alliance LLC, expects to receive two boosters in August and is confident the supply will continue, a plan it said Monday remained in place.

Lockheed and United Technologies Corp. – which has a 50% stake in the firm that imports the Russian engines – both report quarterly earnings Tuesday, when the head of U.S. Air Force Space Command is also due to give a speech in Washington D.C. Boeing reports the next day. Watch out for any executive commentary on whether rocket engines are once again becoming a cause for concern.